Lock for safes



Dec. 2, 1941. R A CRESWELL l 2,264,660

LOCK; FOR sAFEs Filed Sept. 9, 1940 M l M M /7 /620 /6 INVENTOR -A TTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1941 y'u:lirlfflfrlp;-. err-fs 'LOCK FoR'sAFEs V n naymenaa: oresweiLL-os Angeles; Calif; Appxieation september 9, 1940, serial No. 356,006

l (o1. 10e-.1)

4T'Claims.

This invention relates. to .animprovedoperating means for safe locks.

Among-the objects .of the invention are toprovide, for operating the. lock of anofflcesafe or container for valuables,r a means mannallyaccessibleat a.point..locatedl-above..the..top of the safe, thereby makingitlpossible.. for a..person,in an-erect, standing .positionto operate .the lock instead. of being obliged to assume .-a.. kneeling or,crouching posture in Vorder todoso..

Another object oftherinventionis to provide an auxiliary indicating .means andan operating device. therefor, thusmakinggit. easier.- to. observe that the. .proper turning movements. are. made inA operatingthelock.. t ,l

O therobjects, .advantagesandfeatures .of Yinventionwill hereinafter. appear.

Referring `to the accompanying. drawing, which villustrates what lis. at present `deemed-to` vbe .a

preferred embodiment of the invention..

Fig. 1 is .a front View, slightly in perspective, of a safe equipped.withftheinventiom the. safe door being open.

Fig.A V2 .isalvertical sectionon a..larger scale than Fig. 1, thesafebemg Vshownwith the .door

closed andthe plane of section beingindicated bythe line 2 2 on Eig.1.

Fig. 3 -isa front elevation ofthe safe, the door being closed..

Fig.V 4 is a. transversevsection on liner l1-4 of Fig., 5 is. a transverse sectiononlline 5-5 of Fig. 2.

On Figs. 4 and 5fthe. parts are shown in the positions they occupy when the door is. open.

Referring. in detailrto the drawing, in 'Figs..1 and 2lv is vshown a safe structure including a top wall IllV supported byfupstanding. side walls II' in one of which is .a spacious door opening I2 for which is provided a horizontally swingable door I3.

This safe is .furnished with a lock operating means which includes. a shaft I5 `that yprojects through its top wall Iand `carries at its projectingv end a pointer I6 which cooperates with a dial I'I. A stepped openingflin said top wall I0 supports a bearingrblock. I9 which, in turn, sustains the shaft I5. by means of 'the collar 2i) xed to saidshaft. vSaidopening I3 is ofA a sufficient diameter to admit the shaft 151 together with a gear V2 I .xedtoits lower end.

The door I3, when closed, extends .a considerable distance into the safe chamber 2B. In its upper part said-door (which is of a s keletal, lled in character) supports a bearing 2e which 36 by which the set of extensible locking` bars 38areoperable-. The three shafts-I5, kZilt'and 3 mayv bereadily; spoken .of without .con-fusion by respectively. term-ing :them-'the` outer;V inner and -operatingshafts` l A `means is provided to rnaintainethe` gears 2 I and. 2'I in properrelative rotational positions to eachother, in conjunctior-i with the-timingmeans l inside vof the lock,-. so. thatthe same teeth `ofthe two gears will 4intermesh again wheneverthe. door is..fbroughtback..to. itsclosed position,l as-were in mesh .beforeit was: opened. Forv this purpose,

the.. upper. shaft I 5 and lower shaft. 28. are veach provided with .'a .gear tooth.. centering means. This centering...mean-s for. the upper shaft. I5,

'includes .ajbent lever 40. which ismountedupon a. bearing projection` 22rd carried .by a .cross wall or extension 22 in ther upper. part. -of fthe. safe. Said lever 40' has a footportion 40d which projects .downwardly through .an opening yL2 2b' in said cross. wall.. The upper, part `of said. lever extends around 'to thejfront side Vof theshaft 1I5 'Land is there providedwith a hook portion M, the tip portion of; which 'is sufficiently pointed. to t snugly within anarrow'recess 42 in the shaft I5.

A compressionspring j4`3^isnplacedback.l of said lever and 'abuts a vertical portion 44 of the wall 22,1 andis heldin place loyilugs, as shown, to

,bear'againstsaid lever above the `fulcrum normallytokeep its tooth 4Iirr engagement With the reoessof the'shaft'l';

'Ihegearftoothcentering means for the-lower shaft28 'includes a plunger '4l having a headda which'works 'within a' cylindrical fpart 49 ofthe inner wall `5I! of the safe door. At' the bottom ofthe'cyli-ndrical chamber 5I, provided inthe door wall, is a circular opening withinwhich the plunger has Va workngt. Within said chamber 5I a compressionspring 521is coiled around the plunger .to cause its. rheadto bear continually against the foot portion 40a of the lever 40; Like I the lever 4i?, the front end of the plunger 42 is provided with a hook portion 53 and this hook portion is movable into and out of engagement with a recess 54 provided in the lower shaft 28 as a part of the gear tooth centering means therefor. The shaft 41 carries a stop collar 46 and has a squared portion 45 leftward of said collar to prevent rotation of the hook portion of the shaft.

In order to afford an indicating means observable from the front of the safe when the safe door is closed, said door is provided with an internal bearing projection 60 through which turnably extends a stub shaft 6I which carries at its inner end a bevel gear 62 in mesh with a` bevel gear 63 xed to the shaft 28. Said stub shaft 6| is furnished at its outer` end with an indicating pointer 65 which cooperates with a graduated dial plate 66 attached tothe face of the safe door.

In the operation of the device, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the lower spring 52 overcomes the force of the upper spring 43 and therefore maintains the upper end of the gear tooth centering lever 4I in the disengaged position. fulcrum of the lever than the spring 52, acts less effectively upon the lever than does the latter spring but, when the door is closed, said spring 52 is compressed and the gear centering tooth 53 is disengaged from the intermediate shaft 28. fr,

Therefore it will be seen that the mechanism is operative by reason of the different operative force exerted upon the lever by said two springs.

I claim:

1. The combination, with a safe casing and a door of the skeletal type controlling a door opening in a side wall of said casing; of a vertical shaft in the top portion of said casing, bearing means for said shaft in said casing, cooperating indicator means carried by said casing and shaft and observable from a point above the safe to indicate the rotational positions of said shaft, a gear carried by the lower end portion of said shaft within the space included within the door 'opening a lower vertical shaft mounted upon the door, said lower shaft projecting upwardly 'above the part of the door upon which it is mounted, a gear fixed to the upwardly projecting portion of said lower shaft, this gear being in mesh with the first recited gear when the door lis in its closed position, means carried by the 'door to indicate the rotational position of said lower shaft, this means including a dial and pointer carried by the outer face of the door, a

gear tooth centering means carried by the casing f and operatively related to said upper shaft, a gear tooth centering means carried by said door and operatively related to said lower shaft, both of said centering means furnished with spring controls whereby they are automatically moved into engagement with the shafts to which they The spring 43, being nearer to the its locking bars, a shaft carried by said door and rotatable from the exterior thereof to operate said lock assembly, an intermediate shaft and gear assembly operatively related to the first recited shaft and furnished with rotation indicating means observable in front of the safe when the door is closed, an upper shaft in a geared relation to said intermediate shaft, said upper shaft being furnished with rotational indicating means on the top wall of the casing, and gear tooth centering means for both said upper shaft and said intermediate shaft, said centering means both automatically moving to operative positions when the door is open and to inoperative positions when the door is closed.

3, The combination, with a safe casing having a side wall with a door opening and a door movable to and from a closed position in relation to said opening; of an outer shaft rotatably mounted upon said casing and furnished with indicating means to indicate its rotational position, an inner shaft carried by said door, the

latter shaft being in a geared relation. to the former shaft when the door is closed and in an inoperative relation thereto when the door is open, a lever pivotally mounted upon said casing, said lever having a tooth portion engageable with a notch in said outer shaft to hold said shaft in a gear tooth centering position, a spring tending to hold said lever in engagement with said notch, a plunger slidably mounted upon said door and having a toothed portion seated in a notch in said inner shaft when the door is open, said plunger being brought into an engaging relation to said lever when the door is closed, whereby said lever is at such time vdisengaged from said outer shaft, and said plunger by reason of its engagement with said lever is simultaneously disengaged from said shaft, a spring tending to hold said plunger in engagement with the notch of said inner shaft, said spring having a force cooperative with the first recited spring, indicator means carried by the door for said inner shaft to indicate its rotational position, gearing whereby said indicator means is at all times operatively related to said inner shaft, a conventional lock assembly operatively related to said inner shaft, and manually operable means to control said locking assembly operatively related to said inner shaft to rotate the latter.

4. In a safe of the type described, the combination, with the casing having a door opening in its side and a door movable to and from a closed position in relation to said opening; of a conventional lock assembly carried by said door to control the operation of its locking members, a shaft carried by said door and rotatable from the exterior thereof to operate said lock assembly, an intermediate shaft and gear assembly carried by the door operatively related to the rst recited shaft and furnished with rotation indicating means observable in front of the safe when the door is closed, a third shaft having bearings Within the body portion of the safe and extending to the exterior thereof Where it is furnished with rotation indicating means, separable gear means interlocking the intermediate and third shaft, and gear tooth centering means for both the last recited shafts, said centering means both automatically moving to disengaged positions when the door is closed and to engaged positions when the door is open.

RAYMOND A. CRESWELL. 

